During space flights and other extraterrestrial activity, exposure to low-gravity or zero-gravity environments can lead to harmful skeletal effects in the human body, particularly in the lower parts of the body and legs where the weight of the body would normally apply continuous loading. This may include a decrease in bone mineral content, bone mineral density, cross-sectional area, and structural strength that would otherwise be maintained under normal earthbound loading and use. Thus, various techniques have been devised to reduce bone loss that might otherwise result from prolonged exposure to micro-gravity. For example, suits such as the Russian Pingvin suit try to address this problem by imposing vertical loading on a wearer using bungee cords. However, these suits are so physically uncomfortable that astronauts wearing them have been known to cut the bungee cords or otherwise circumvent the loading features during prolonged use. Other techniques such as exercise regimes, drugs, supplements, and the like have similarly met with limited success.
There remains a need for an improved gravity loading suit which helps to prevent bone loss and other harmful effects of microgravity environments.